Characters from the HBO Dramedy Girls.
open/close all folders
The Main Four
Hannah Horvath
Played By: Lena Dunham
As close to a central character as the show has, though this is largely because much of it is told through her eyes, Hannah is an insecure, slightly overweight aspiring writer from Lansing, Michigan who has moved to New York to pursue her dreams. At the beginning of the show she's still receiving financial support from her parents, though that quickly changes. She lives in an apartment in Brooklyn with her best friend from college, Marnie.
- Alliterative Name: Like all the main four.
- Ambiguously Bi: Hannah has experimented sexually with another woman but it is unclear if she is actual bisexual.
- Author Avatar: To an extent, though Dunham has denied that the character is a direct counterpart to herself.
- Betty and Veronica: A platonic version, with her close friendships with Marnie and Jessa. Marnie plays the dependable, conventional Betty, and Jessa the adventurous Veronica. The two even have a degree of competitiveness with each other over Hannah's affection, until their Friendship Moment late in Season 1.
- Big Beautiful Woman: She flaunts her plump, pear-shaped body in bikinis and is noted to be cute.
- Big Eater: She likes to stuff her face, in spite of being ashamed of her weight. It can be inferred that because she's become a deadbeat, the only comfort she has is eating.
- Butt-Monkey: Many side characters make subtle (and not-so-subtle) jabs at her weight and attractiveness.
- Can't Take Criticism: She thinks she's a goddess of writing even when most of her writing is limited to memoirs, and well, she hasn't accomplished much in her life other than go to college and leech off her parents for 2 years after graduation.
- To be fair, the show suggests throughout its run that she is a pretty talented writer (though to nowhere near the extent that she thinks) but lacks the work ethic and diversity of interests to really make it as a professional.
- Character Development: Grows out of her laziness and finds success as a writer, and becomes kinder and more accepting of the people around her.
- A Degree in Useless: She majored in English and is rather surprised that she's not desired in the job market. She immediately expects publishers to like her writing and does not take criticism well.
- Ditzy Genius: Dunham describes Hannah as being "a mix of natural intelligence and improbable stupidity".
- Even Girls Want Her: Enough for a lesbian at a retreat to tell Hannah that she's "too luscious to be with the wrong guy".
- Fat Bastard: She's abrasive, unpleasant to be around and always wanting to eat. She also is shameless about her freeloading behavior either forcing her parents or Marnie to foot her rent and grocery bills. Fat-shaming Hannah doesn't work, she'll try to tell you she's proud of how large she is (but inside, it deeply does hurt her).
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Though they have their problems over the course of the series, she and Marnie ultimately are this, to the point that Marnie moves in with her to help her raise her son, Grover.
- Informed Ability: Invoked. Her writing is apparently great, enough for her to constantly be landing jobs for it, but the audience rarely gets a glimpse of her apparent talent, ostensibly to not cause arguments over whether or not her writing is actually good. This only becomes an issue at the end of the sixth season, when she strains credibility by getting a academic job she's not qualified for, because of her writing.
- It's All About Me: She has a hard time talking about anything but her own problems and concerns. Several characters call her out on that during the whole series.
- Both her GQ employment and her grad school experience fail because she blatantly can't accept the idea of having to use her writing talents for projects she's not passionate about, and she can't accept criticism or handle not being considered a golden goose.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Can be very caring when she wants to and is very much the optimist. Dunham describes her as an "age appropriate narcissist" who cares for those around her deep down.
- Last Het Romance: For Elijah and subverted as he later has sex with Marnie.
- Lazy Bum: She's not much of a hard worker, she only wants a job where she expects to have fun such as creative or autobiographic writing and in the pilot episode she gave up hope after failing at only one job interview (where she was being rude and cocky).
- The Load: She spends the entire first season either not having a job or not having a job that pays any money, meaning Marnie has to pay her rent and other expenses.
- Most Writers Are Writers
- Naïve Everygirl: Very clueless and relatable along with having a good dose of optimism.
- Never My Fault: She can't even write a proper apology letter without being hopelessly passive aggressive.
- No Social Skills: She can be incredibly tactless at times.
- One of the Kids: She's already a Womanchild, but she soon takes a job as a substitute teacher and has a rather big sister/buddy relationship with her students, sometimes to their detriment.
- Only-Child Syndrome: Hannah is a stereotypical only child who is self-centered and whose parents are very involved in her life.
- Selective Obliviousness: While being put off by his new girlfriend moving into their former apartment is reasonable, Hannah seems to be in complete denial of hers and Adam's breakup in Season 4 due to their growing tension, her moving to Iowa, and them not speaking for an extended period of time.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: On her 25th birthday, she's very put together in her outfit and hair with nice make up. Her parents remark how well she's looking and Marnie lampshades that she'd look like this every day if she wanted to; Hannah's outer presentation also improves as the series goes on.
- Surprise Pregnancy: she finds herself pregnant in the last season after she gets herself checked for a UTI.
- This Loser Is You: She has definitely fallen into this trope, as the series has gone on.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Slowly, is mellowing out and open to befriending a girl she was jealous of.
- Unreliable Narrator: lampshaded by Adam in Episode 7, and heralding a massive dose of Character Development for him as she realizes she has been writing him off.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Has a massive tendency to be this at times. She refuses to go out and work a job that doesn't make use of her college education (which would be rather hard to find because she majored in English) and shamelessly leeches off other people to pay for her food and rent. Hannah no doubt has a sense of entitlement that's dragging her down in life.
- Weight Woe: She's a Big Eater and is aware of how chubby she is, with the first episode having her refer to Marnie as a "Victoria's Secret Angel" and herself as a "fat baby angel" when Charlie commented on how they looked angelic sleeping together; on the other hand, she tends to worry about more things than her weight and tends to regard her body as "it is what it is" and doesn't shy away from string bikinis.ADAM: "You think because you're, what, eleven pounds overweight you know struggle?"HANNAH: "I am thirteen pounds overweight and it has been awful for me my whole life
!" - Womanchild: She's been mooching off her parents even when no longer living with them (and then she starts mooching off Marnie), she can barely sustain a job or relationship for a reasonable amount of time, and she frequently blames everybody else for her problems and mistakes. This is most evident in the episode "Leave Me Alone," where she becomes needlessly jealous of a former classmate for successfully launching her writing career, and then sabotages her chance at finally getting recognition for her writing during an essay read. This, among other things, finally pushes Marnie to her limit. And the two, after a nasty fight, break off their friendship... with Hannah still not realizing how childish her behavior has been. In series 2 moreso than in series 1. Series 1 was mostly about the world from Hannah's perspective, Series 2 is mostly about Hannah from the world's perspective, which makes her seem like a much more stupid and arrogant person.
- After finally landing a writing job at GQ, a highly competitive position, within a few days she starts complaining that the corporate environment will stifle her creativity and she'll become too complacent to pursue her creative writing. Her boss tells her point-blank that there are lot of people who would want to be in her position, and her coworker has to tell her that she'll have to spend nights and weekends working on her writing — just like everyone else not privileged enough to be able to work on their projects full-time.
- In season five, she breaks up with Fran by literally running away from him in her pajamas.
Marnie Michaels
Played By: Allison Williams
Hannah's best friend from Oberlin, Marnie is a slightly prissy and uptight but responsible young woman who works at an art gallery. At the beginning of the series she is in a long-term relationship with Charlie, but feeling a bit bored with it. She and Hannah clash at times, but Marnie does care about Hannah despite her occasional Ice Queen tendencies.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Arguably is a significant element of her attraction to Booth. And motorcycle-riding, has a girlfriend, Desi.
- Alliterative Name: Exaggerated. Marnie Marie Michaels.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Her mother is an Attention Whore who is outwardly rude and has a poor sense of boundaries.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's a snarky brunette who is difficult to please.
- Break the Haughty: Poor Marnie, since she has split up with Charlie she can't catch a break.
- Bros Before Hoes: Averted, Marnie has slept with two of her friends' exes, which causes A LOT of drama. She even made out with Elijah while he was dating Hannah in college.
- Character Development: While she is still kind of self-centered, Is gradually becoming more self-aware and growing out of her entitlement.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: When she and Desi have a day out with Hannah, she starts a spat with him when she catches him looking at another girl. Keep in mind that, at this point, she was cheating on her own partner by being out with him.
- Control Freak: Everything in Marnie's life has to be just so, or she freaks out. She's also considered to be the uptight friend in contrast to Jessa.
- She's a complete bridezilla at her own wedding, demanding every detail be as she dreamed.
- Deadpan Snarker: The snarkiest of the girls, which becomes more noticeable in the later seasons.Sharva: [During her birthday party,] Your mother tells me you're the next Jennifer Lopez minus the acting chops.
- Dirty Coward: At her wedding, she's upset when Fran is there for what she wants to be a morning for the girls. After insisting he stay, she orders Shoshanna to tell him to leave... and when she politely does, she turns around and harangues Shoshanna for saying so, and reassures him he can stay.
- Failed a Spot Check: Has dated a couple of addicts and has friends who use drugs, but is oblivious to the signs that someone is high.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Averted. Unlike many other TV show characters who have rather unrealistic dreams of a singing career, her vocals are actually okay.
But that's basically it, and her tour ends up making no money after Desi's companion stops them from making any money through merch. - It's All About Me: Complains that Desi's addiction stresses her out to the point that she needs daily massages, and then has the audacity to complain about the bruises from said massages.
- She has a habit of using events that aren't about her to put the spotlight on her, such as using Hannah's birthday party to bring attention to her nascent singing career or using the celebration for Ray's election to announce her engagement, despite the fact that Ray is her ex and she had previously talked about not revealing it yet.
- Both Desi and Hannah flat out tell her that she would have noticed Desi's painkiller addiction if she had ever bothered to pay attention to anybody except herself.
- Jerkass: When Ray is understandably upset after Hermie suddenly dies, she can only think about her own needs and degrades Ray for being upset and shaken by the death.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Deep down, she does care a lot about Hannah. This shows in the final episode, when she becomes a live-in partner to help Hannah take care of her baby.
- Narcissist: It shows particularly in her love life and when it comes to her singing ambitions. She and Desi even have sex to their own music. She also wants to say she is a good friend to everyone while they are all bad friends.
- Not What It Looks Like: Has the nerve to sheepishly say that Ray forced her into having sex with him when Hannah catches the two of them getting it on. Hannah doesn't believe it for a moment.
- Only Sane Woman: How she sees herself compared to the rest of the clique. In the beginning of the series she's the only one with a steady job and a boyfriend. Of course, she's actually just as screwed up as everyone else.
- Parental Substitute: From the beginning of the series, she assumes motherly duties for 24-year old Hannah like covering her rent and restoring her self-esteem once Hannah's own mother cuts her off.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Hannah's red.
- Statuesque Stunner: Quoting Hannah, she's the Victoria's Secret's angel while Hannah is the "fat baby angel".
- Took a Level in Jerkass: She wasn't an angel to begin with, but in Season 1 she displays some compassion for the people around her, is one of the more responsible and focused friends, and even pays Hannah's rent for several months. Later in the series she's singularly driven by her narcissism and myopia.
- Subverted in the final episode, where she becomes a live-in partner for Hannah to help her take care of her baby.
- Ugly Guy Hot Girl: Considers Ray to be the "ugly guy" to her "hot girl", and is completely dumbfounded when he dumps her. Twice.
Jessa Johanson
Played By: Jemima Kirke
A world-traveling, would-be Bohemian Brit, who arrives in New York in the first episode and moves in with Shoshanna. The most impulsive and free-spirited of the bunch, she tends to make things fun for the others but also gets them in trouble at times as well. She has a (well-deserved) reputation for being flaky and unreliable, and like Hannah, she lacks a job at the beginning of the series, though she soon gets one as a babysitter for a wealthy couple.
- Alliterative Name: Sensing a trend yet?
- British Stuffiness: Completely averted. Jessa is by far the most open-minded and adventurous of the four.
- The Bro Code: She ultimately went after Adam despite his history with Hannah.
- Character Development: Averted. Aside from settling in a monogamous relationship, Jessa is the most static character out of the main girls.
- Commonality Connection: She and Adam initially bond over their addiction issues, and attend AA meetings together. Eventually they have a Relationship Upgrade.
- The Drifter: Formerly. Eventually settles in NYC after a lecture from Hannah and enrolling in college.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine.
- Freudian Excuse: She gets several, in the form of a tumultuous relationship with her mother, a sister who has slept with every boyfriend she's ever had, and a father who is just as flighty, irresponsible, and self-centered as she is, and who feels it is Jessa's job to take care of him.
- Functional Addict/Addled Addict: Fluctuates between the two.
- Going Cold Turkey: After rehab she is not shown drinking or using until Jasper hunts her down at her place of work and it doesn't take much convincing for her to join him in a cocaine binge that results in her stealing from her employer.
- Granola Girl: Though less into hippie-type philosophies than most examples.
- Heel Realization: Admits to Hannah in the penultimate episode that she took a long look in the mirror and realized that she was "a fucking bitch."
- Hidden Depths: Despite being extremely aloof and emotionally unconnected, it truly bothers her that her father didn't bother cancelling his plans for her visit (as he assumed she would cancel first) and that he's never acted like a real parent.
-
Hide Your Pregnancy: Jemima Kirke was pregnant during the filming of season two, though this trope is slightly subverted because she wasn't showing as much as some other examples. - Informed Attractiveness: She's pretty and all, but the way people go on about her you'd think she was the most glamorous woman on Earth. In a season one episode, other babysitters can't believe she's not an actress, and Hannah recalls that Matthew Perry asked her out on a date despite her having an open fungal sore on her face. She's also compared to Brigitte Bardot more than once, despite her actually having little resemblance to the actress.
- Insecure Love Interest: Despite desiring to come off as a free-spirited woman who has few attachments to men and takes pride in "destroying them," she's extremely insecure when it comes to Adam, and gets extremely miffed when their film shows that he had a passionate relationship with Hannah (which he did), as she considers them to be passionate, with him and Hannah having a boring relationship. In the end, she realizes that she isn't Adam's first choice, but accepts him anyway because she can't live without him.
- Irony: Jessa is a Jerkass with addiction issues and little consideration for anyone. What's her dream? To become a therapist! It inevitably doesn't work, and she mentions that she ended up leaving the program because she's not qualified to help anyone.
- It's All About Me: Self-centered and usually focused on only her own needs and entertainment, such as ditching Hannah to disappear without a word in season two and acting out at rehab in season three. In the fourth season, she can't possibly fathom the idea of Ace using her and not actually being attracted to her, because she considers herself so desirable.
- Jerkass: Often has more in common with a pile of broken glass than with a human being. Especially apparent in season 4. First she sets up Adam, who is still kindasorta involved with her best friend Hannah, up with Mimi-Rose, an artist acquaintance of hers, so she could get closer with Mimi-Rose's ex, whom she has taken an interest in. She also takes pride in allegedly four men trying to commit suicide because of her as if this made her some supreme seductress and not just a terrible person to be with.
- She is intentionally an asshole to Hannah in Season 5 to push her away and alleviate her guilt about falling for Hannah's ex, Adam.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Jessa has some good insights and can give decent advice despite her brash approach.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Ace, Mimi-Rose's ex, winds up using Jessa to make Mimi-Rose jealous.
- Hannah forgives her for all her transgressions, but states they are better off not being friends.
- Like Parent, Like Child: Her father is a slight, unreliable manchild just like her.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: She's a free-spirited drifter who often encourages both men and women around her to run wild and pursue risky behaviors. Her boss, Jeff, wants her to be this for him, but she declines. Thomas-John pursues and marries her because he views her as this. It doesn't end well, while eventual boyfriend Adam sees her as a "beautiful mindfuck." As the series goes on, however, this becomes more and more deconstructed as the negative, toxic, damaging repercussions of her actions and behavior begin to catch up with her as her friendships strain, leading to a Heel Realization in the series finale.
- Ms. Fanservice: Acknowledged in universe as the most attractive of the four main leads and is definitely the resident sexpot.
- Not So Above It All: For all of her bad girl antics and pretending not to care about anyone or anything, she's heartbroken when Adam (briefly) returns to Hannah, and can't bring herself to hook up with another guy.
- Put on a Bus: During the middle of season two, most likely to accommodate Kirke's real-life pregnancy at the time.
- The Sociopath: Calls herself one. Though she does care about some people, she overall is fairly callous, self-involved, and unbothered by any hurt feelings her actions cause.
- Stepford Snarker: Is fairly snarky and dismissive towards her friends and love interests, though this is largely a mask for what Hannah describes as "a deep well of loneliness".
- Took a Level in Jerkass: She always had toxic, manipulative qualities, but she ramps up steadily starting in the third season, when she ruins a rehab experience for attendees, and then manipulates Hannah, Adam and Shoshanna to drive for days to pick her up when she could have just flown. In season four she's belligerent and dismissive of Hannah leaving for grad school and makes her feel even worse and insecure about leaving Adam, before setting Adam up with Mimi-Rose just so she can get to Ace, followed by an uncomfortable love triangle in the last two seasons.
- Toxic Friend Influence: To all of the girls, but especially her cousin Shoshanna. Shosh even gives her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech over it in Season 6.
- Tsundere: With her husband Thomas-John. [[She marries him because she hates him so much.]]Jessa: [During her vows Thomas-John,] when you came to my house with flowers, I was prepared to call the special victims unit. Not only did I find you very creepy, but I also found you very boring. But for some reason, I decided to have dinner with you. You asked to move tables twice — and I was even more revolted. Then, you started talking about what you did — about travel and finance— and I thought, this man is brilliant in a way I've never known.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Snarks at Hannah nonstop, but still thinks of her as her dearest friend.
Shoshanna Shapiro
Played By: Zosia Mamet
Jessa's American cousin, Shoshanna is the youngest and least experienced of the group, and also the only one who's still a student. She's also still a virgin at the beginning of the series, a status about which she is extremely insecure.
- Action Girl: In Episode 7. Those kickboxing classes pay off.
- Alliterative Name: Yep, definitely a trend.
- Ambiguously Jewish: There's her name for starters, the fact that she lists her date being Jewish as a plus, and her stereotypical overbearing parents Melanie and Melvin.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Probably the nicest of the cast but positively vicious when angry as her epic verbal tear down of the group shows.
- Brutal Honesty: Shosh doesn't have much of a filter.
- Career Versus Man: Has this dilemma at the end of Season 4, after getting a job offer in Japan, and her boyfriend asking her to move in with him. She chooses the job, after Hermie encourages her to "lean in".
- Character Development: Ends up being the most focused and conventionally successful out of the four.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Shosh tends to be on a completely different wave length from everyone else most of the time.
- The Ditz: There's a reason why her quotes are a tumblr favorite.
- Dumbass Has a Point: While in later seasons her stupidity is more of an Informed Flaw, she is very perceptive, and recognizes the flaws of the other characters and her need to move on from them.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Phlegmatic.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: First played straight, though in a downplayed way. Hannah, Marnie, and Jessa all regularly trash talk and exclude her, even judging others for even giving her the time of day despite her constantly helping and supporting them. She even calls the group out because of this, complaining that they treat her like a cab driver. Inverted in Season 6, when it turns out she's the only one in the group that everybody likes, and by then she hates Hannah, Marnie, and Jessa.
- Go-Getter Girl: Passionate about marketing, and devotes herself to a variety of business ventures.
- Hidden Depths: The other girls view her as annoying airhead, but she actually can be quite insightful and is very dedicated, and is genuinely great at brand marketing.
- Hypocrite: After she loses her job in Japan and sits around New York feeling sorry for herself and contemplating welfare, one of her exes points out how she'd constantly complain about her friends being unable to hold down jobs and whining about their lives, and she ended up doing the same thing. This is partly what motivates her to get her groove back and help Ray in marketing his coffee shop.
- Idiot Ball: After nailing her first interview and having a position guaranteed, she flippantly admits that she considered the interview only practice and insults the manager, then proceeds to bomb the rest of her interviews and end up unemployed. Shoshanna is far from the wisest at times, but she's usually been focused and realistic when it comes to work.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Helps Ray out with Marnie, despite having lingering feelings for him.
- Informed Flaw: Other characters are constantly haranguing her to each other for being an annoying pain in the ass that's impossible to hang out with, but little of what we see of her earns this derision, especially when the characters insulting her are usually not much better.
- The Ingenue: In Season 1, when she is a virgin and more naive than the rest of her social circle.
- It's All About Me: Much more downplayed than the rest of the leads, but she notes that when her high school friend died, she was somewhat relieved because it meant that she wouldn't have to compete with her for their "role" anymore. This lessens as the series goes on, when she becomes much more focused and involved with helping others.
- Motor Mouth: Even more so when she smokes crack.
- Nice Girl: Brutal Honesty aside, she's the most concerned with the people around her and is very exuberant. She does the most selfless acts out of the girls and frequently shows up to support and encourage them.
- Only Sane Man: How she sees herself at the end of the series, frustrated with her friends' inability to hold down jobs and relationships.
- Pitbull Dates Puppy: Her relationship with the rather peevish and sarcastic Ray could definitely be seen as this. Though its deconstructed in that it strains their relationship when they can't see eye to eye.
- Put on a Bus: Moves to Japan in Season 5, though she still makes fairly regular appearances on the show.
- Sex as Rite-of-Passage: Losing her virginity is her goal in Season 1, as she believes in this trope.
- Technical Virgin: She's embarrassed by her virginity and tries to downplay it by saying she's done other sex acts.
- Verbal Tic: Shoshanna often says the words "Like" (whether or not she's making a comparison), "Amaze!", "Okay" and variations of "Oh my god".
Other Characters
Adam Sackler
Played By: Adam Driver
Hannah's friend with benefits at the beginning of the show, Adam is a part-time woodworker and aspiring actor who likes to work out, masturbate, and walk around shirtless. It's later shown that there's more to him than meets the eye, however.
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: He starts dating Mimi-Rose while Hannah is in Iowa. To be fair, he considered her moving away as a breakup.
- The Alcoholic: It's revealed to Hannah's surprise that he has been attending AA meetings since he was 17.
- Amusing Injuries: During a heated argument with Hannah, he gets clipped by a car. It's played completely straight (ambulance and everything), but it also breaks the tension.
- Big Brother Instinct: He hates Caroline and considers her a dangerous load, but is protective of her when she reveals bruises from her abuse and is upset that Hannah kicked her out of the apartment, even though he's wanted her gone from the first moment.
- Breakout Character: Most definitely. He started out as a friend-with-benefits for Hannah, and ended up one of the main characters in the show.
- Chubby Chaser: As much as he teases Hannah over her weight, he seems to be sexually attracted to it, given the number of times he fondles her.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Every character besides Hannah finds him bizarre. He wanders around Hannah's apartment and annoys Marnie because he doesn't understand the concept of personal space.
- Fag Hag: Gender-reversed, as Adam has a lot of lesbian friends.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Not "responsible" per se, but he comes off as being more functional than his sister Caroline (that isn't saying much).
- Formerly Fat: He tells Hannah he was fat in high school, now a muscular twenty-something that teases Hannah about her weight.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Has trouble keeping his anger in check at times.
- Hidden Depths: Lampshaded and arguably subverted. Adam points out that his depths aren't so much hidden as that Hannah has never bothered to look for them before.
- His acting skills stand out considerably here. During the first half of season 3, he is mentioned to be going to auditions, but it's mostly played for laughs since he says he mostly does it to get a rise out of people. However, when he finally reads some of his lines to Hannah, he pulls them off amazingly, almost changing into a different person in front of her.
- Hot-Blooded: When Adam falls for someone, he falls hard. And he often resorts to physical violence when angry.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Reveals himself to be this later in Season One. He also tends to have a moral code and is horrified when Hannah worries about her ebook deal just after her boss died.
- No Social Skills: More or less. He's often aggressive and inappropriate without even meaning to be.
- Off the Wagon: In the season two episode "On All Fours". The results aren't pretty.
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: A male equivalent. After his messy breakup with Hannah at the end of season one, he still demands her care and hospitality, and when she cuts him off, he freaks her out by sending her a video of him singing an aggressive song about her; he also threatens and freaks out on Ray when he misinterprets his comments as an admission to being attracted to Hannah.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He's given a number of these to Hannah, such as in the Season One finale after she passive-aggressively blows off his offer to be her roommate.
- The Sociopath: He's frequently referred to as one, mostly due to his sexual fetishes, but he clearly isn't given his empathy and strong moral code.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He's 3/3 on this trope.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Played for laughs, as he's not as attractive as he seems to think he is. Although Adam Driver does have an Estrogen Brigade in real life.
Charlie Dattolo
Played By: Christopher Abbott
Marnie's boyfriend, who at the beginning of the series has been with her since meeting her at an undergraduate party four years before. He's very kind and accommodating to her, but she's grown a bit bored of him. He's in a music duo with his friend Ray.
- Addled Addict: In Season 5, he's revealed to have a heroin addiction and can't make it more than a couple of hours without a fix.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Despite his seemingly nice exterior, he can actually be pretty deceitful and self-centered. Sometimes even using his "niceness" as a sympathy ploy (see right below for a big example).
- Disappeared Dad: He offhandedly mentions having one, which contributes to his insecurity in relationships. In Season 5 he mentions his father committed suicide, though Word of God states that he lied about this to get Marnie to feel sorry for him.
- Dogged Nice Guy: To Marnie's annoyance. Later shows that he can be just as big a Jerkass as any of the other characters.
- Future Loser: Despite being a handsome, talented young man he ultimately becomes a junkie.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Charlie made a lot of money and started a successful company after developing an app ("Forbid") that prevents you from calling someone (such as an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend) whom you are tempted to call but know that you shouldn't call.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Ray, prior to being Put on a Bus.
- Hidden Depths: As with Adam, there's a bit more to him than is initially presented.
- Humiliation Conga: His successful business venture falls apart, and after he loses all his money he becomes a junkie in a terrible apartment.
- Not So Above It All: Despite his generally nice and kind demeanor, he can actually be quite selfish and vindictive sometimes. The latter tendency is pretty well demonstrated by his humiliating response to Hannah's documenting of Marnie's complaints about him in her diary.
- Put on a Bus: After breaking up with Marnie offscreen.
- The Bus Came Back: In Season 5.
- Replacement Goldfish: His girlfriend Audrey is implied to be this for Marnie.
- Took a Level in Badass: When he reappears in season 5, Marnie is impressed with his tougher look and attitude, and he also pulls a knife on a mugger to protect her... which is immediately subverted when he panics after getting a gun pulled on him and frantically pulls Marnie's earrings off to give to the mugger. Not to mention that he's an Addled Addict.
Elijah Krantz
Played By: Andrew Rannells
Hannah's ex-boyfriend from college. Hannah tracks him down in season one to give him some news, only to find out that he has some news himself - he's gay, and now out of the closet. He later becomes a recurring character.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Tries to do this for Dill. He gets rejected.
- Ascended Extra: Went from a one-off character to getting more screen time than Jessa and Shoshanna in Season 6.
- Berserk Button: "Berserk" is a tad strong, but he does not like people making fun of his singing voice.
- Breakout Character: Gets his first arc in Season 5, and has a episode focusing on his Broadway ambitions in Season 6.
- Camp Gay: Loves musicals and is flamboyant in personality.
- Deadpan Snarker: Almost everything he says is snarky, and he and Hannah have very compatible senses of humor.
- Gaydar: He knew about Mr. Horvath's sexuality before he did.(in season 1) "Your dad is gay!"
- Fair-Weather Friend: Elijah's plenty of fun, but you can't trust him to watch your glass of water.
- Hidden Depths: Is actually a talented actor and singer, despite his general attitude of coasting through life.
- Despite being a Jerkass at times and hanging out with equally bitchy friends, it really does hurt his feelings when his romantic partners don't respect him.
- Incompatible Orientation: With Hannah, obviously. An unusual case as she only finds out after they've already broken up.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Seems to have one with Hannah's mom, Loreen.
- Jerkass: At times, though his reasons for being such are usually at least somewhat sympathetic.
- Jerkass Has a Point: His predictions that Marnie's relationship with Desi would end poorly were 100% correct, as well as his comment about Hannah's father being gay.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Deep down he really does care about his friends, and has come out to support Hannah, Marnie and Shoshanna on different endeavors (though not without complaints).
- Likes Older Men: Most of his boyfriends have a decade or two on him.
- The Load: His laziness and mooching off boyfriends puts him into this category, but he can put in effort if absolutely required.
- No Bisexuals: Discussed after he has sex with Marnie.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Has become this with Hannah as of Season 6, even offering to help raise her baby.
- Put on a Bus: He remains mostly unseen after Hannah kicks him out of the apartment, until they meet up again at a beach town in season three.
- Transparent Closet: He doesn't come off too heterosexual in flashback sequences. Lampshaded by Elijah himself:"RENT rehearsal!"
- Would Hit a Girl: He hits Marnie when she insults his singing voice, although it's more of a pissy slap than an actual attempt to harm her.
Ray Ploshansky
Played By: Alex Karpovsky
Charlie's bandmate and best friend, who is extremely protective of Charlie's feelings. Ray manages a coffee shop, at which Hannah eventually gets a job.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Initially, though it's cleared up when a Staten Island Jerkass uses an antisemitic slur and he states he's Greek Orthodox.
- Breakout Character: As of season 2, he went from being a side character and friend to having his own arc as he grapples with his own complicated, troubled feelings.
- The Cynic:Shoshanna: During her breakup with Ray You hate everything!
- Character Development: Goes from a gloomy and pessimistic jerk who just complains about everything, to a man who actually gets involved and is proactive in changing things that are unjust. He also steps up to make real moves in his career after Shoshanna calls him out for having no goals, and in later seasons becomes the most genuinely involved, caring and grounded characters in the show.
- Deadpan Snarker: Particularly the 'deadpan' part.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Downplayed. He's still kind of a jerk, but he really does become concerned over the dog that Adam steals (and then later abandons during a fight) because he used to have one.
- Holier Than Thou: Ray is very moralistic and is prone to giving lectures, despite being no saint himself.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be a bit of a dick, but he really does have his friend's best interests at heart.
- Older Than They Look: He's 33, almost a decade older than the other characters.
- Older and Wiser: Considers himself to be this, though he gets called out on his flaws a bunch, such as having no goals, no passions, and being a downer that hates everything.
- Opposites Attract: Seems to be attracted to optimists, such as Shoshanna, Marnie, and ultimately Abigail.
- Really Gets Around: Not that he's super promiscuous, but he does hook up with three of the four main female cast members.
- Serious Business: Considers most things to be serious business, which is why he's so uptight.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Yep.
Booth Jonathan
Played By: Jorma Taccone
A conceptual artist whom Marnie meets at an art gallery in the first season, and later dates after her breakup with Charlie. Unlike most of the other characters, he's fairly successful at his job, and while Marnie admires him for it he isn't universally liked.
- Badass Boast: Using these seems to be central to his approach to chatting up women. From what we've seen so far, it works.
- Informed Ability: Marnie is awestruck of his artistic talents, but what the audience sees is YMMV at best.
- Jerkass: He doesn't care too much about the people around him.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: How Charlie views him and Marnie, as Booth isn't particularly tall.
Thomas-John
Played By: Chris O'Dowd
A venture capitalist who meets Marnie and Jessa when the two are out drinking one night. He tries to put the moves on them, unsuccessfully, but later comes back into the picture when it's revealed that he's been seeing Jessa and the two of them have decided to get married.
- Boring, but Practical: The way he views his profession - it may not be as interesting as what Jessa and her friends do, but it pays the bills.
- Straight Man: Of the mostly non-comic variety.
Sandy
Played By: Donald Glover
A black law student whom Hannah briefly dates after her breakup with Adam. Elijah dislikes him and Hannah is critical of him because of his conservative political beliefs, but he generally remains good-natured with them.
- Black Republican: His primary character trait, especially as far as the other characters are concerned.
- Deadpan Snarker: This comes out when he and Hannah break up.Hannah: (when breaking up) Do you want to have sex still?
Sandy: No.
Beat
Hannah: I didn't feel like it either, I just didn't want you to have blue balls because that's another thing I don't believe in.
Sandy: You're so sweet, you're so sweet. - Only Sane Man: He's by far the most well-adjusted of any of Hannah's boyfriends.
- Strawman Political: Averted. In general he politely avoids discussing politics, and while he refuses to apologize for his beliefs to Hannah or Elijah he isn't presented as unreasonable in doing so, whereas Hannah and Elijah are the ones who come off as aggressive and obnoxious.
- Token Minority: To this point, the only non-white character to have much of a role on the show.
Fran Parker
Played By: Jake Lacy
Hannah's fellow teacher and boyfriend.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed. He's definitely not as messed up as Adam is, and he does have a trial for a girlfriend, but he often becomes condescending and uncaring with Hannah, and the girl Hannah cheats on him with muses that he could be nice just to hide his "inner asshole." His only true moment of Jerkass is admitting to Hannah that he doesn't like any of her friends, but it's the final straw for her.
- Butt-Monkey: In the season five opener, he spends most of his time getting ignored, belittled and talked over. Desi straight-up forgets who he is, despite apparently having taken a solo bike ride with him.
- Gender-Blender Name: His nickname is Fran for one.
- Holier Than Thou: Sees himself as a righteous, champion of women because he doesn't watch porn due to disagreeing with the industry... but masturbates to photos of ex-girlfriends, which is still creepy and inappropriate even if some, like Marnie, don't see an issue.
- Nice Guy: Stands out as one of the few stable boyfriends of Hannah, and Marnie notes that he's been her only normal boyfriend. Even after he and Hannah break up in the middle of upstate New York, he offers to drive her back to the city.
- Not So Above It All: He turns out to be as messed up as most of the cast, and he and Hannah freak out at each other on the same immature level after they break up.
- Only Sane Man: For the most part, so much so that when he tries to run his relationships with the characters as a normal person would — not causing scenes in public, wanting to communicate better, not being comfortable with neurotic antics — it comes off as almost off-putting.
- Replacement Goldfish: It's implied that Fran wants a girlfriend more than he wants Hannah specifically.
- Women Are Wiser: Averted, given that his girlfriend is the erratic Hannah.
Paul-Louis
Played By: Riz Ahmed
A surfing instructor and Hannah's lover while she goes to the Hamptons.
- Disappeared Dad: Becomes this for Hannah's and his son Grover.
- Nice Guy: Very easygoing but not very dependable.
- Polyamory: Has a girlfriend and has sex with Hannah.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in a few episodes of the final season, but makes a big impression by getting Hannah pregnant with his child, which she carries to term and keeps.
Caroline Sackler
Played By: Gaby Hoffmann
Adam's emotionally unstable sister who briefly lives at Hannah's. According to Adam, she has a thing for driving a wedge between people.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: She's played by Gaby Hoffmann, after all.
- Cloudcuckoolander: So cuckoo that she breaks a small glass in her hand.
- Consummate Liar: Spins a convincing (if not overwrought) yarn that she and Adam had a sickly cousin who Adam spent all his time and money taking care of.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: It says a lot that she makes Adam look like the far, far more responsible and functional sibling.
- Jerkass Has a Point: She tells Hannah that she and Adam are both whiny and self-centered people.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Really cares for Hannah and Adam, then later that care is extended to Laird and her daughter.
- The Load: She has no home or job, and gets by through leeching off of others and, in Adam's eyes, dragging them into her constant state of implosion.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Has some shades of this, such as opening Hannah up to the idea of grieving by dancing around a cemetery.
- Mercy Kill: Adam hates her because she helped kill their grandmother (at the grandmother's request, Caroline insists).
- Messy Hair: Has really messy, wavy brown hair.
- Missing Mom: She leaves Laird and their baby girl in Homeward Bound, but returns for the finale.
Desi Harperin
Played by: Ebon Moss-Bachrach
An acting colleague of Adam who later becomes the other half of Marnie's singing duo as well as her lover and later husband.
- Adult Child: Has a habit of making stupid decisions and blowing lots of money.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He can be extremely flighty and random. Probably a result of his painkiller addiction.
- Flanderization: Was initially introduced as an actor/musician, who was narcissistic, but also much hipper and more collected. He developed into a Manchild who throws petty tantrums if he's not getting constant attention.
- Functional Addict: Revealed to be this in Season 6.
- Narcissist: Even worse than Marnie.
Laird
Played by: Jon Glaser
Marnie and Hannah's neighbor, a recovering drug addict, and later Caroline's partner.
- Broken Bird: He's a fragile person.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Has a tendency towards odd behaviors and responses, but is a genuinely nice guy.
- Henpecked Husband: Caroline openly insults him, but he loves her dearly.
- Nice Guy: One of the few genuinely nice characters in the show.
Mimi-Rose Howard
Played By: Gillian Jacobs
An upcoming artist/writer and Adam's new girlfriend.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: According to her ex, her cordiality is just an act she puts on because it fits her public branding as an artist.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Averted. She casually brings up that she had an abortion earlier, without even telling anyone she was pregnant.
- Nice Girl: She's really, really friendly, though it can be difficult to see if she's this or a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
- Taking a Third Option: When Ace reveals that he's been playing Jessa and Adam to try to get back with her, a fed-up Mimi-Rose decides to just be single.
- Walking Spoiler: It's difficult to bring her up without revealing that she is Adam's new girlfriend.
Tad & Loreen Horvath
Played By: Peter Scolari & Becky Ann Baker
Hannah's parents, who are university professors in Michigan. They had been supporting Hannah financially as she worked at her unpaid internship, but cut her off from further support in the initial episode.
- Bumbling Dad: Hannah's father displays a degree of naivete, or at least lack of sophistication, which is surprising given that he's a college professor ("Can we get a hotel for $50 a night in Manhattan?"). It's especially bad since his daughter HANNAH has to school him on a few things.
- Butt-Monkey: Tad is constantly getting the short end of the stick, such as getting injured trying to have shower sex with Loreen and having so little respect from Hannah that she can't stop talking about herself for ten seconds to ask more about his medical procedure.
- Fiery Redhead: Loreen has short, flaming red hair and is often impatient with Hannah and her demands for money.
- Gayngst: Tad goes through this, though this is intentionally played up, with him being unable to cope with anything while an exasperated Hannah has to help him out.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Loreen has two sisters with whom she has a rather....tenuous relationship with as seen in "Flo".
- Hippie Parents: They display traces of that, as can be seen in the contrast between their wild shower sex and Hannah's more pedestrian romantic encounters.
- Incompatible Orientation: Surprisingly, Tad and Loreen as he is revealed to be gay after 30+ years of marriage.
- Last Het Romance: Loreen for Tad before he came out ofthe closet.
- Late Coming Out: Tad coming out of the closet as a middle aged man after 30+ years to a woman.
- No Bisexuals: After 30 decades of marriage to a woman, Tad comes out as gay. Of course, Elijah called it way back in season 1.
- Parental Obliviousness: They believe Hannah when she says that she's doing okay financially.
- Straight Gay: Tad who doesn't fit into the usual gay stereotypes.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Understandable for Loreen, the man she's been married to came out to her after several years and she's often lashing out to the point where she's placing Hannah in the middle.
- Useless Bystander Parent: When Hannah and Loreen argued over whether Hannah should receive continued support, Tad just sits there and waits for it to end.
